Before Sam
by Maple Pup
Summary: Grace has a boyfriend before Sam and his little sister has a relationship going, too.


How It All Began

It was two day until the last day of eighth grade. Jeremy Fox, who was thirteen knew that there would be some pairs this summer. In only one year he would be in the oldest grade in Roaring Brook Junior High in Aspen, Colorado. This summer, he wanted to have a girlfriend. Jeremy _really_ liked Grace Brisbane, who was also thirteen and knew that he could get her if Bear didn't first.

Bear Stratton was the popular boy in Jeremy's class. He was fourteen and got whatever he wanted. Jeremy loathed Bear; one because he showed affection toward Grace. The worst part was that Grace was friendly back. Maybe even a little too friendly. Two, because of his little sister, Wolverine, who was eleven and played the flute. Wolverine had kicked him hard last year when he was talking about how Bear looked stupid when he looked at Grace in the lovey-dovey way. Three was because Bear was an awesome alto sax player. He had this year's solo. Jeremy practiced his trumpet really hard, but couldn't keep up with Bear's expensive private lessons.

At school, Jeremy asked Grace to sit with him at lunch. Grace nodded and they talked about school and band (Grace played the flute). Finally, Jeremy got up the courage to say, "Isn't Bear the biggest show-off in eighth grade?"

Grace didn't answer, but Jeremy thought he saw her sneak a peek at Bear. She smiled at him and he smiled back. Bear shoved a note at her when he thought that Jeremy wasn't looking. Grace read it and wrote something back. Then Bear wrote a reply and drew something.

When they finished lunch, the note fell out of Grace's back pocket. Jeremy snatched it up and read it. Bear wrote, "Do you want to go on a date?" Grace wrote back, "I'd like that." Bear replied, "I love you." He had drawn a heart. Ugg, that was mushy.

Jeremy read it over again when a tiny hand pulled it out of his hand. It was Wolverine. She was as small as a third grader and was way stronger than Jeremy. "Get over here, loser." She snarled fiercely. When they reached a corner she asked angrily, "Why are you reading my brother and Grace's note?"

Jeremy decided to stay quiet and breathed a sigh of relief when Wolverine turned away, but she wasn't finished with him. She stomped on his foot and smirked when he flinched. "Do not read my brother's-"

Before she could finish, Jeremy punched her nose hard and shoved her down. Wolverine screeched, alerting a teacher who was walking past, Ms. Hudson. "What are you doing?" She asked Jeremy. "To the office." To Wolverine, she said sympathetically, "Did he hurt you?"

Wolverine sniffed, but straightened up. "He took me over to the wall and cussed at me and punched my face. Then he pushed me down and I hurt my leg."

Bear came over and put an arm around his tiny sister. "I'll carry you," he offered, but Wolverine shook her head.

"Support me." She demanded and Bear put an arm around her shoulder. Wolverine leaned against it and limped out of sight. Jeremy watched, not feeling the least bit sorry. Wolverine was tough and would shake it off.

"To the principal's office." Ms. Hudson was usually nice, but today her eyes were furious. She lectured him in a furious voice. "You could have really hurt poor Wolverine. She does not deserve that kind of treatment."

But as he walked inside, the last thing that he saw were Grace's robin blue eyes. They were an unusual icy blue. "Who do you think you are doing, picking on little kids? You are _real_ nice, Jeremy!" Grace hissed. "Wolverine could have been badly hurt!"

"She started it," Jeremy protested, but Grace was steaming mad.

"I don't care who started it, Jeremy Fox." Grace growled. "The point is, you shouldn't be picking on younger kids." She then finished up her speech. "And just to let you know, I don't sit with bullies like you." She stalked off and Jeremy felt very empty inside.

Ten minutes had passed since the incident. During that time, Wolverine had recovered, Jeremy's parents had arrived and the Strattons (Bear too) had marched down to the office. Ms. Hudson was sitting in a chair.

The first thing that Mrs. Stratton had said was, "Oh baby! Are you hurt?" Her chin-length wavy blonde hair brushed Jeremy's arm as she bent down to hug her daughter.

Wolverine gave Jeremy a scowl. "Yes Mom," she replied and then pointed a little finger at Jeremy. "That's the boy that hurt me."

Mr. Stratton strode over to Wolverine and picked her up. He put her on his shoulders and walked over to Bear, who sat up straighter as his father approached. Wolverine and Bear's green eyes danced as Mr. Stratton ruffled their dark brown hair.

That was when the principal came in the door. He sat down in his big chair behind the desk and cleared his throat. "Hello everybody," Mr. Chatham's gaze went from the Foxes, who were sitting down, to the Strattons, who were standing up. Wolverine was still on her father broad shoulders. "We are all here because of an incident that happened in the hallway. Ms. Hudson, our English teacher, witnessed this so-called fight."

Ms. Hudson stood up. "I was going to the teacher's room and heard screaming. I ran over to the sound and saw Wolverine on the floor. Jeremy was standing over her." She sat back down and gave everyone a hard stare. "I don't like to think that there are bullies here at this school."

"Wolverine, what happened?"Thoughts where forming in Jeremy's head a million miles a mille-second. _I'm going to be in real trouble! Why does she have to talk anyway? I was only defending myself. She was the real bully here!_

"Well," Wolverine began. "He took me over to the wall by the teacher's room, cussed at me and punched my nose. Then he shoved me down and hurt my leg. Then Ms. Hudson ran over. If she hadn't, who knows what would have happened next?"

"Jeremy, we want to hear from you now." _At least he's giving me a chance to defend myself and to keep from getting punished._ Jeremy thought.

"First of all, I didn't cuss at her." Jeremy stared challengingly at Wolverine. "And I was just defending myself. Wolverine stomped on my foot. That little brat might have hurt me if I hadn't taken care of it." Inwardly, he cringed at his words. It did sound like he had hurt Wolverine for no reason at all.

Mr. Stratton straightened up. "Wolverine wouldn't stomp on anybody's foot. That boy is lying!" He boomed.

Then Mrs. Stratton put a few words of her own in. "My baby is sweet, kind and caring. She wouldn't do anything like that. Also, Jeremy Fox said, 'That little brat might have hurt me if I hadn't taken care of it.' That isn't true and it sounds like young Mr. Fox is admitting that he hurt my baby on purpose."

The principal scratched his chin thoughtfully. "It _did_ sound like Jeremy meant to hurt her if you think about it." He raised a wood mallet, brought it down and said that dreaded word. "Guilty!"

The First Kiss

Wolverine could barely hold in her smirk. Jeremy Fox was in big trouble. Ha, ha to him. She hated that boy ever since she had laid eyes on him on Bear's first day of kindergarten. A long forgotten memory came back to her.

_Bear was five years old. He was wearing a red collared shirt with new dark blue jeans. She is warm and comfortable in the stroller. But then a boy with a brown T-shirt and ripped jeans comes up to stand in front of her. She didn't like this boy at all because of the way that he was muttering and growling at Bear. She vowed to hate him forever. _

She was snapped back to reality by her father's words. "Well, my children aren't staying here for the day. We're going home." Wolverine stayed on her father's shoulders until they got back to the limousine. The chauffeur, Isaac, opened the two passenger seats in the front. Wolverine's parents climbed in to the car grandly.

Isaac then opened the door for her and Bear. Wolverine climbed in first and watched as Bear stepped in gracefully. He was so handsome, with his green eyes bright and dark hair shining in the sunlight. She could see why Grace liked his face so much.

The limo started and rolled out of the parking lot and down the street. Five minutes later, the houses turned from average to mansions. House number fifteen on Oak Drive was a huge white mansion with pillars in the front. It was surrounded by a white picket fence. The grass was neatly mowed and the trees were trimmed professionally. The windows gleamed and the flowers were gorgeous. There were roses and bleeding heart, tulips and lilacs, sunflowers and poppies. Indeed, the house was perfect.

Bear dashed out of the car as soon as Isaac parked. Wolverine waited for Isaac to open the door and then stepped out daintily. She marched up to her room on the second floor and turned her dark purple laptop. After it booted up, she started Super Mario Bros and played for at least two hours. Then Bear came in. "Wolverine, will you go ask the gardener to make a bouquet of red roses?"

"Fine, but you need to go and get me root beer." Bear started down. "Barq's root beer, not Mugs. I hate Mugs."

Wolverine dashed down just as the gardener was packing up. "I need a nice bouquet of roses, only red roses, tied up with a red ribbon."

The gardener smiled. "Let me guess. These are for Grace."

"You've got that right." Wolverine had always liked the gardener because he was so nice and had a good sense of humor.

When Wolverine delivered the roses to Bear, she had an idea. She didn't know much about boys and girls kissing, but she sure wanted to see it for herself. And that was when she had a very good idea. It was a devious, horrible, clever, not- very-nice -one, but a dirty one that would shut that stupid Jeremy Fox up forever. To tell you the truth, it was a pretty impressive one by itself, but when you knew that she had thought it up in five minutes, you would know not to mess with Wolverine Stratton.

Jeremy's house was at the corner of Laurel Way and Oak Drive, where Wolverine lived. Now came the tricky part. Wolverine had to convince Jeremy to come to her house.

She knocked on the door and Jeremy came out. "What do you think you're doing here? You already have me in enough trouble as it is." He spat the words at her like they were fire.

"Well Jeremy," Wolverine purred sweetly. "I know how you can get Grace back on your good side. You just have to come with me. I know exactly where she is right now."

"You better not be lying, Wolverine Stratton." Jeremy growled. But he followed her to the mansion.

Wolverine hid a smile. This was the plan of a lifetime and it would stop Jeremy from mooning over Grace. This was turning out to be perfect.

They turned onto a well used path that led them through the woods. Wolverine could hear voices up ahead. She motioned for Jeremy to be quiet. Her smile was threatening to break out. In between two red maple trees, the path ended and was surrounded by the colorful bunches of orchids that Bear had planted. And in the middle of the path, stood Grace and Bear. Their backs were turned, Wolverine made Jeremy climb a birch tree in full leaf. She pulled herself up after him and watched the lovebirds.

Grace looked even prettier in the sunlight then she did in the shade. Her light brown hair shone and her natural golden highlights stood out. Her robin-eye blue eyes sparkled with delight when Bear came close to her. Then Bear came even closer to her and they leaned toward each other. Wolverine grinned with delight when their lips touched and stayed that way for a long time.

Then they did it again and again. Wolverine turned to Jeremy, whose eyes were wide with shock and surprise. "Admit defeat and stop bugging my brother and his girlfriend." Then her green eyes glittered mischievously. "Or come on to the branch I'm sitting on and kiss me."

Jeremy stared at her. "I don't want to kiss your dirty mouth, but I won't stop trying to get Grace." He said determinedly.

"Come on Fox." Wolverine challenged. "You too scared to come over and give me a little kiss? This story is going to spread all around town." She knew that that wouldn't happen, but Jeremy believed her.

"Fine," he snarled and scooted over to the branch where she was sitting. Then he leaned over and touched his lips to hers. Wolverine excepted it to end quickly, but it went on for quite a while, until they were both jerked back to reality. They waited for Bear and Grace to leave, and then quietly slipped down and out.

Wolverine walked Jeremy home in silence, When they got to his house, he quickly uprooted a daylily and gave it to her. "See you around," he said quietly and gave her a special smile. Then he walked into his house, leaving Wolverine standing on the sidewalk with the maroon flower clutched tightly in her hand.

Jeremy's Strange Feelings

Jeremy felt a stream of emotions when he walked into his house. He sat down on his blue couch and thought about how he felt.

He felt sad because Wolverine was gone, which was surprising. An hour ago, he had never wanted to see her again. Now he wanted her to be at his side. He wanted to call her Wolv, which sounded like a good nickname for her.

And now, Jeremy didn't seem to care so much about Grace. He had been thinking about her so much lately… but now all he could think about was Wolverine's pretty face framed by her shoulder-length dark brown hair and her sharp, but friendly emerald eyes. Gosh, she was beautiful. And he could almost feel her lips again. They were smooth and smelled like root beer. Not just any root beer but Barq's. Jeremy liked Barq's, too.

The guilt came then. Jeremy hated himself for thinking of Wolverine as his enemy and for hurting her. Grace had been right. Wolverine was only eleven. Then Jeremy thought of something horrible. What if he liked her, but she loathed him, just like the old days?

_But she likes you_. Jeremy assured himself. _She wouldn't let me kiss her-on the lips!-if she didn't like me. _There was truth in those words, but what if his theory was wrong? That would be a tragedy for him!

Then Jeremy had a thought. He could call someone to see how Wolverine was doing. But the only person that would be able to tell him was Bear! And he and Bear weren't exactly friendly with each other. _Well it's worth a try._

Bear's number was right in the phone book. Jeremy dialed the number and waited. The phone rang five times and then Bear picked up. "Hello, this is Bear Stratton speaking. Who is this?"

"Jeremy Fox." Jeremy held his breath. Bear might hang up on him. On the other end there was silence.

"What do you want?" Bear didn't sound angry, but he sounded puzzled and a little suspicious. Jeremy didn't call the Strattons often.

"How is Wolverine?" _It's for your own good! _Jeremy thought to himself.

"You mean after that horrible punch and shove that you gave her today at school?" Now Bear excepted him to apologize?

"Yeah," Jeremy waited, but Bear said nothing. "I'm really sorry that I did that. How is she right now?"

"She's physically fine, but something's bugging her. She's really quiet tonight. We're all a bit concerned. She almost never hides out in her room like that."

"I think I know what's going on, but I have to tell you at your house." Jeremy couldn't believe his nerve. "It's kind of personal."

"Okay," Bear sounded weird. "Look Jeremy, I'm sorry that I gave you the impression that I'm a spoiled brat. It's just… our parents think of us as little kids and we kind of pick up on that. I hope you'll forgive me."

"That's okay. I totally understand." Jeremy was still. He couldn't believe that Bear was apologizing.

"Well, see you in about five minutes." Bear's voice was enthusiastic. "Goodbye Jeremy."

"See you soon, Bear." Jeremy hung up and tugged his sneakers on. It was time to go see Bear and his mansion.

The mansion loomed big ahead of Jeremy. He wished he knew where to go in. Then Bear saved him. "Hey Jeremy!" He shouted. They sounded like old friends as Bear led him in.

After they stepped inside, Jeremy tensed. The inside was just as fancy as the outside. The granite counters gleamed in the kitchen and the sink was spotless. The cream-colored cabinets were perfect and the refrigerator was a deluxe one. Bear jumped onto a counter and grabbed a bag of Doritos and took two Sprites and a Barq's root beer from the fridge. He and Jeremy ran up the handsome oak stairs. Bear led him to the right and knocked on a door. "Come in," a familiar voice said.

"I brought you a root beer, Wolverine." Bear pushed open the door. Wolverine sat at a black desk staring at a purple laptop.

"Thanks," Wolverine kept her eyes on her computer. She reached for the root beer and popped it open. She took a long drink and then noticed Jeremy. Their eyes locked and Wolverine dropped the root beer. It sizzled and then spilled onto the soft while carpet. "I'll call Bertha." She looked as if she might cry, so Bear motioned for Jeremy to leave the room.

"See what I mean?" Jeremy nodded and Bear shoved open a door across the hall from Wolverine's room.

As soon as he stepped into Bear's room, Jeremy relaxed. It was messy and sport posters were taped up all over. Comic books lay strewn on the floor. The bed was unmade and dirty clothes were piled up in the hamper.

"Now me what happened with Wolverine." Bear sat down on his bed and Jeremy sat down next to him.

Bear listened intensely as Jeremy told him all about how Wolverine had led him down the path to where he and Grace had kissed. He explained about how she had challenged him to kiss her, and how they hadn't wanted to stop. He went on the tell Bear about the daylily that he had given her and about the weird feeling. It felt good to blurt it all out.

After Bear thanked him, they watched a baseball game on the Strattons huge television. It was awesome! Finally, Jeremy had to go home. He said goodbye and walked out of the mansion feeling pretty good about what had happened.

Wolverine's Sorrow

She couldn't get him out of her head. His dark hair and the gorgeous hazel eyes. She couldn't help herself. He was handsome.

Wolverine stared at her laptop. She booted it up and uploaded a picture of her black standard poodle, Queenie, who had passed away a month ago. In the photo, she had an arm around Queenie's shoulders. Clutched in her hand was a blue ribbon that Queenie had won. She kept looking at that picture. Then somebody knocked on the door. "Come in," Wolverine sighed.

The door swung open. "I brought you a root beer, Wolverine." She let Bear's voice drift around the room before answering him.

"Thanks," Wolverine opened the can without looking up and let the fizzy drink run into her dry mouth. Then her eyes flew around the room. When she noticed Jeremy, she just stared at him like he was an alien. Her drink dropped and hit the floor. It leaked out and browned the white carpet. She felt like she was going to cry.

"I'll call Bertha." Bear walked away and Jeremy followed. Wolverine picked up the can and gulped the rest of it down just before Bertha came in.

Bertha was very nice about the whole incident. She cleaned the carpet up silently and took the can downstairs with her. Wolverine needed to talk to somebody about this. She thought for a while and then it hit her. Grace could help her out!

She dialed Grace's number was shaking hands. This had to work! "Hello," Grace answered the phone.

"It's Wolverine." She couldn't keep her voice from trembling.

"You sound upset," Grace noted. "Do you want to tell me what's going on and why you're so upset?"

Wolverine told Grace everything-how she and Jeremy spied on them, about the kiss and finally why she was so upset.

"I don't understand it," Wolverine sighed. "Two hours ago I hated Jeremy Fox. Why do I feel all weird at the sight of him now?"

"That's the way love begins. You feel strange and awkward around that person, especially after your first kiss. When I first met Bear," Wolverine guessed that Grace was blushing, "I felt lovesick when I was around him. If I heard his name, I would go beet-red."

"Just like you are now?" Wolverine teased. It felt like a huge rock had been lifted off of her heart. She felt so much better about this whole thing.

"It seems that you're feeling better." Wolverine knew that Grace was smiling and shaking her head. "Anyways, do you want to hear about my first date with Bear?" Wolverine sat back and listened to Grace.

When they hung up an hour later, Wolverine felt very tired. She curled up in her bed and fell asleep quickly.

The sun woke Wolverine up the next morning. She glanced at her digital clock. It was ten o'clock already! "Mom," she yelled. "I'm late for school!"

Her mother appeared in the doorway with a plate of pancakes. "You're not going to school today." She announced.

"But it's the last day! All of my stuff is still there." Wolverine protested. "And there's a school dance tonight!"

Mrs. Stratton explained everything to her daughter. "I have all of your stuff and you can still go to the dance." Her eyes smiled. "You need a nice dress it."

"Thanks Mom," Wolverine devoured the pancakes one bite at a time. "Is Bear going to school today?"

"No, he's in the den playing new video games. That's why he should be fine while we go find you a nice dress to wear."

When they arrived at the mall, Mrs. Stratton hustled Wolverine into a JCPenney store. After lots of looking, Wolverine decided that she liked a garden-themed one shoulder dress. It was blue, pink, red and white all swirled around. It was also very expensive, but the Strattons didn't care.

They found a nice collared maroon shirt for Bear that he was sure to love. They also ran into Grace, who said that they had missed out on the best day of school ever. She was buying a sea-green dress with ruffles on the front. Wolverine knew that Grace would look perfect in it.

On the way home, they had to stop at McDonalds so Bear could eat his number ten meal (ten chicken nuggets, which Wolverine personally thought were disgusting, a serving of large fries and a large soda). The fries smelled pretty good, but Wolverine wanted to eat fish, which helped her skin and hair become sleek.

When they pulled into the driveway, the first thing that Bear did was gulp down his McDonalds. Wolverine hadn't known that he had a talent for eating a McDonalds number ten meal in two minutes. Impressive.

Wolverine ate her fish happily. She couldn't wait for the dance. It was going to be great! The afternoon flew by until it was five o'clock. After she showered, brushed and blow-dried her shoulder-length hair (which was looking sleek) and put on her dress, it was time to go. Bear looked very handsome in his maroon colored shirt. That was probably the first time that he hadn't complained about how ugly his shirt was.

The limo pulled up at the school. Wolverine took a deep breath and stepped out of the car, Bear following. This was the night that she had been waiting for.

An End and A Beginning

Jeremy watched people go inside from his sister, Holly's car. He had a bouquet of daylilies and tiger lilies in his hand. He hoped that Wolverine liked them. That's when he saw her lithe shape appear from the crowd. He stepped out and gave her the bouquet. "Hi Jeremy," she excepted the flowers shyly, which was unlike her.

He hoped that he looked okay. He had clean, dark jeans and a green, brown and white polo shirt on. She had a one shoulder dress that made her even prettier than usual. But inside, she was drop-dead gorgeous. Wolverine's blue, pink and red dress shimmered in the light. Her hair was sleek and dark and shone like the sun. People stared at them and whispered. Jeremy caught words like, "Beautiful" and "Pretty".

Then music came on and everybody started to dance. Jeremy had to admit that he and Wolverine looked good together. She was a good dancer and he just copied her moves. A couple flashed past them. "Looks like Grace's being dragged all around the dance floor by Bear." Wolverine grinned.

It was true. Bear wasn't much of a dancer, but he was strong enough to pull Grace around. She murmured something in his ear and he slowed down and copied her.

Grace was beautiful in her short sea-green dress. The ruffles weren't too frilly, but they gave the dress a nice extra touch. For the first time ever, Jeremy realized that he wasn't thinking about how nice Grace looked, but about how Wolverine looked. It was a good feeling, to know that somebody liked him. It was the beginning of his and Wolverine's new relationship and the end of mooning over Grace.

Wolverine was glad that Jeremy was dancing with her, though she was getting a little tired of it. She was glad when Jeremy bent down and said, "Hey Wolv, do you want some punch?"

"Where in the world did you find the nickname 'Wolv' for me?" Wolverine smiled. "But I have to say, I like it. And no thanks for the punch."

After Jeremy drank his punch, Bear and Grace came over to them. "Looking good," Grace said to Wolverine and Jeremy.

"Thanks," Wolverine grinned. "You were doing really well, too."

"Hey, do you guys want to go for a walk?" Bear asked. When nobody responded, he said, "It's okay if you don't want to."

"No, it sounds great." Grace leapt to her feet swiftly. "What do you guys think?"

"I want to do it." Wolverine made the decision for both of them. "So what are we standing around for? Let's go!"

The two couples strolled down the street. Then Grace had `an idea. "Follow me," she beckoned to them. They followed a path to a mossy hollow by a bubbling stream. It was the most romantic place that they had every been in.

Bear enfolded Grace in his arms and their lips touched. Jeremy wanted to do this with Wolverine, but he decided to have a little fun with her first. He lifted her up and dashed around with her held high above his head.

Wolverine giggled. There were advantages of being the size of a third grader sometimes! They flopped onto the moss, panting, and laid there for a minute. Then they stood up. Jeremy started to walk toward his girlfriend; his eyes never leaving her face. Wolverine leaned forward and their lips met.

They kissed so many times that they lost count. Finally, Bear saw the time. "Oh my God!" He yelped. "We've got to get back. It's quarter to ten!"

As they trudged back, Wolverine stretched her lithe body out and whispered in Jeremy's ear, "I don't know why we fought so much. We make the perfect couple."

"You've got that right, Wolv."

While Jeremy and Wolverine were talking, Grace and Bear were deep in conversation with each other, "I never would have guessed that Wolverine and Jeremy would become a couple." Grace was saying to Bear. "They're perfect for each other."

"What about us?" Bear reached over and gave Grace's hand a little squeeze. "Aren't we the best couple that you've ever seen?"

"Oh, Bear!" Grace smiled and shook her head. "You're too much!"

"Well you're too pretty for your own good!" Bear retorted. "Anyways, I bet that we would win the best couple of the year award if we entered."

"You already won," Grace said sleepily and leaned against him. "I was the judge and you and I are the winners."

"Well naturally!" Bear snorted and engulfed her in a big hug.

"I'm so tired," Grace murmured. "I could fall asleep right here in you r arms."

"Then do!"

Grace closed her eyes. The last thing that she felt was Bear's soft shirt and the last thing that she smelled was Bear's piney scent before she drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up, she was stretched across the Stratton's couch. Her head was on a pillow that was lying on Bear's legs. Bear sat on was a recliner that was built into the couch. He was snoring softly. Grace noticed that the recliner was back all the way. He must have carried her inside when she fell asleep in his arms. This was just the way she liked life. Wolverine and Jeremy were happy and she was closer than ever to Bear. Little did she know, another boy would soon ssteal her heart and Bear would have to go.

But all contests and challenges were over.


End file.
